CAS overturns doping decisions on 28 Russian athletes

ZURICH, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld appeals from 28 out of 39 Russian athletes who were given lifetime Olympic bans for doping violations at the 2014 Sochi Games, it said on Thursday.

CAS said that in the 28 cases, the sanctions imposed by the International Olympic Committee on the athletes had been annulled due to insufficient evidence and their results at the Sochi Olympics had been reinstated.

CAS confirmed that anti-doping violations had been committed in 11 other cases but reduced the life bans from the Olympic Games to a ban from the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang next month. (Writing by Brian Homewood; Editing by Michael Shields)